Maybe Soon
by Lady Lance
Summary: Ogata's notsodetailed plan yields unexpected results. Mild AU, set not long after the series ended.


Ogata was in the midst of devising the plan that would finally bring the game into his favor when a go stone hit him just above his glasses.

"Sorry!"

"I'm so sorry, Ogata-sensei!"

He gave the two teenagers a look that might have even sent the former Meijin scurrying for cover. Patiently, he took off his glasses and calmly wiped the dust off with a handkerchief.

"Shindou. Touya. What have I told you about fighting in the study session?"

"…don't?" Shindou offered with a meek voice.

Ogata sighed - he never expected that the relationship between Akira and Shindou would be so loud. "And what did I say would happen if you did?"

Ogata thought he heard Shindou whimper. "But that's so cruel!"

"It's for your own good," Ogata said. "And the sanity of those of us actually i trying to study /i " he said, perhaps a bit harsher than necessary. He watched Touya elbow Shindou in the side, and furtively whisper at Shindou, chiding his rival to not make the situation worse than it already was.

Not letting the boys play in study sessions together was about the worst punishment he could impose on any of them. Though the arguments were obnoxious, no one could deny that the two young pros often played some of their best games when playing one another, and their schedules were hectic enough that these study sessions were often the main time they had to play together. Ogata sighed again. Why did Touya have to pick up Shindou's worst traits instead of Shindou picking up Touya's better traits—namely, his ability to be polite and proper when the situation called for it.

"Two sessions, and if I hear that you caused another disturbance at your father's Go salon, Touya, I'll double it to four. If you want, you can finish your discussion i as long as you do it quietly /i ."

There was no other response but the quiet sound of stones being dropped back into their respective ke's.

Six weeks earlier

The plan had come to him while sitting at a bar somewhere in Nagano. First step: invite Shindou to the former Meijin's study group. Second step: get the brat to trust him. Play a few games, give him some advice, be i nice /i to him. This, in turn, would somehow lead to the perfect moment for Shindou to reveal all that he knew about Sai. He wasn't sure how, but he didn't care. It would just magically work.

Ogata had thought it quite genius. Of course, after downing two bottles of good sake more-or-less by himself (he did give one cup to a pretty girl who ultimately turned him down) any plan would have been nothing short of brilliant.

After Ogata had returned to Tokyo, the Jyuudan had decided that his idea still had merit, though his chances of success were exceedingly slim. He still hadn't worked out just how he'd get Shindou to give up his knowledge about Sai, and an offer to join their study group had already been turned down once. He knew even then that Shindou studied with Morishita 9-dan. Why Shindou thought it better to study with i him /i he'd yet to figure out—but he did have something that Morishita didn't.

Touya Akira.

And he was going to use it to his full advantage.

Ogata caught up to Shindou as he was leaving from his match for the day.

"Shindou-kun, may I have a word with you for a moment?"

Shindou looked up, breaking off the discussion of the day's game with one of his friends, a shodan whose name Ogata had never bothered to learn.

"Yes, Ogata-san?"

"I was wondering if you had changed your mind about joining sensei's study group." He still wasn't sure why Shindou had rejected him the first time—the Meijin didn't let just anyone into his group, and he knew of several people who would love the opportunity to join, but Shindou wasn't exactly known for his logic either. He could tell that Shindou was having some kind of internal debate, so that's when he decided to bring out his lure.

"Akira-kun would be there, you'd have a guaranteed chance to play him. His schedule is only going to get busier, you know."

The two boys had finally just had their first match and he knew that Akira had wanted to play the other pro again. He knew that the boys had started to play informal matches at the Touya salon, but was certain that Akira's free time was at a premium. What better offer than a fixed opportunity to play?

Finally, Shindou nodded. "I'll check it out." His eyes got a distant look, and a soft smile spread across his face. "He would have liked that."

Ogata raised an eyebrow at that comment. Who was this he? Was it Sai? "Very well. We meet Monday evenings. This week we're meeting at my apartment, since Touya Kouyo is out of town." He pulled out a piece of paper and scribbled down his address. "Be there at seven."

Shindou took the card. "See you then."

Ogata watched as Shindou's friend had a minor panic attack, demanding to know if Shindou was going to stop going to Morishita's study sessions or something, but Ogata didn't care. Phase one of his plan was complete.

The first study session went rather well. Shindou provided some interesting insights—if perhaps a bit more heated then necessary—as they discussed the game between Touya and Sato 5-dan, which had resulted in the younger pro being cut from the Kisei league. Then Shindou had played a nice, solid game against Ashiwara-kun, whom had later told Ogata that he was impressed and could begin to see why Akira had been so obsessed with Shindou for so long.

There had only been one minor snafu—what to order for dinner. Shindou, as he was to learn, was fanatical about ramen, and would eat it at any opportunity he could get, and argued quite passionately why they should eat ramen.

After spending the better part of twenty minutes disagreeing/arguing about whether to eat ramen, sushi or Thai (he still wasn't sure how Shindou had dragged the others into quite so a heated argument about dinner, something that had never been an issue before) they settled for pizza and beer.

Ogata needed the beer.

When Ogata called the Touya Go salon to see if Shindou and Akira had kept up their end of the bargain, Ichikawa had all but promised to give Ogata her first born child for finding a way to make the two young pros behave themselves. He said he was glad that he could help, but privately didn't think that it'd last long once the two boys were off their probation.

The second study session is when Ogata realized that he was in over his head. Apparently, the two hadn't been able to find the time to play together and Shindou had asked, very politely, if he and Touya might play.

He couldn't see a reason why not—he wanted to play Shindou himself, but it was still early and he was still trying to build trust with the young pro. He agreed, on the condition that they would play next week, "to see how he had grown" since their last (for him, drunken) game.

It was a decision he would come to regret.

It'd started well enough—everyone there was quickly engrossed in their respective games and the only sound to be heard was the pa-chi of the shale stones hitting the kaya-wood boards.

Then came the discussions.

What started off as something calm and rational—he thinks it was Akira questioning the wisdom of attacking when the side was still so dangerously unguarded--when Shindou retorted with a jab at Akira's play in the upper left. From there he doesn't really remember the conversation, only the polite, yet insistent knocking on the apartment door and the request for them to quiet down because the yelling was making her miss her favorite soap opera.

That night they had sushi and sake.

He'd drank an entire bottle by himself before the meal was complete.

The third week, everything was civil. He played Shindou, while Touya played Ashiwara. As a token of appreciation, Ogata let Shindou win the dinner debate and they'd had ramen.

Shindou was such a frequent customer of the stand they visited that he got Ogata a bottle of beer for free.

The conciliatory gesture was most appreciated.

From third hand sources, Ogata learned that Shindou had had a falling out with the shodan that had been with Shindou (he now knew the boy's name was Waya) when Ogata had re-extended the invitation to the study group.

Waya didn't appreciate that Shindou apparently spent all his free time with Touya, or, apparently, the fact that he seemed to be putting less effort into the study sessions with Morishita 9-dan (not that Ogata could blame him. 9-dan or not, he never found the older go-player to be all that interesting when it came to post-game analysis).

Shindou, in return, quit Morishita's group.

There was a 3:2 pool that when Shindou and Waya made up that Waya would try to get Shindou to rejoin and out of the hands of that "evil Jyuudan."

He didn't make a bet, but he did make a mental note to find a way to drive Waya insane. Then he remembered about a request that morning from a private elementary school seeking a weekly tutor for their new Go club.

He called the Go office and scheduled Waya as the tutor that very afternoon. He hoped Waya liked first graders.

The fourth week there had been no problems. Touya Kyouo was back in town and they'd met at the Touya house to discuss some of the latest games he'd seen in China. Ogata wasn't worried about Shindou--not only would they not be playing, but he also knew that the boy respected the former Meijin.

Even so, that week, just before those not in the Touya family were about to leave, he pulled aside the two young pros.

"About last week, if that happens again, I won't let you two play in the study session for two weeks." He had thought about making the sentence longer, but he didn't want to alienate Shindou, at least not until he'd learned the truth about Sai. "Am I understood?"

Both Shindou and Akira had bowed and assured him that he was perfectly clear.

Thunder roared in the background, and Akira gave him a look that clearly stated that he'd blame Ogata if Shindou became ill because he didn't have an umbrella and tried to run to the train station in this weather.

"Come, Shindou, I'll give you a ride home."

Shindou seemed nervous accepting the ride, but then Akira gave his friend a similar look, one that said he'd kill Shindou himself if Shindou got ill because he didn't have an umbrella and tried to run to the train station in this weather.

Shindou got into Ogata's car without another word.

At the next study session, Shindou arrived fifteen minutes early and with a curious look on his face.

"Ogata-sensei," it had taken Shindou a few weeks before he'd learned to address Ogata properly. "Waya keeps babbling on about how you're out to get to him, is that true?"

It'd had been a month since Waya had started to tutor the young students. Most of the students seemed to love Waya and several of the parents had even requested that he start tutoring their children privately.

Plan A had been a bust.

He lit a cigarette. "I have no idea what you're talking about," he replied. Certainly, Waya had gotten some of the less choice assignments—last week it had been a group of about twenty blue-haired old ladies who loved to reminisce about lost loves as much as they enjoyed playing go, but that could hardly be blamed on Ogata.

Well, it i could /i , but only if you dug deep enough.

Shindou didn't look like he quite believed him, but that didn't matter. Soft knocking preceded the entrance of Akira, and this time Ogata didn't miss that Shindou's gaze immediately became fixed on Touya.

Interesting.

By the third month of Shindou joining his study session, they'd had to start having them at the Go Institute. Even though there had been no physical violence since that fifth meeting, and they were better about keeping their voices down, they were still boisterous enough that Ogata's landlord politely asked if he could have the meetings elsewhere.

Ogata profusely apologized, and swore that it would never happen again.

By next week, Shindou and Touya were walking around the Go Institute with decidedly chagrined looks on their faces. No one was certain what had happened, but each rumor was more outlandish than the last. One had even gone so far as to suggest that Ogata had spanked them both, but then Ishiba 4-dan had been pretty drunk at the time.

Neither boy volunteered information; but both were seen giving some of the tacky ties sold in the Go Institute's gift shop a weary look.

When Ogata was asked what was going on, he simply smirked.

Since the first time Ogata suspected that Shindou's fascination with Akira might go beyond mere friendship or rivalry, he hadn't given it much thought. Between trying to find someone new to date (which never lasted long because inevitably they weren't interested in go), his matches, and keeping the peace at study sessions he simply didn't have time to pursue that line of inquiry further.

He rather wished he had.

Shindou Hikaru was a very talkative when excited, so talkative that he just wouldn't shut up. Unfortunately for Ogata, both Touya and Waya were out of town and Isumi was no where to be seen. That left him as the target of Shindou's happy babbling when Ogata happened to congratulate him for passing out of the preliminary round of the Kisei league.

"You should have seen the match, Ogata-sensei. Touya would have pleased. It was just like the one we played at the last study session! Only this time, I not only didn't fall into the trap, I cut him off! You should have seen the look on my opponents face! He completely fell apart after it only took a few more turns to get him to resign."

"Good, good."

"I'll have to play the match with Touya when he gets back, see if I could have found a way to end it sooner."

"Maybe we'll discuss it at the next session." The better to head off arguments about any potentially overseen moves on Shindou's part.

Shindou nodded agreeable. "That would be nice, sensei." His watch, a tacky digital one that looked like it came out of a capsule machine, began to beep. "Oh! I gotta go! I promised Touya that I'd call him on his break!" The young pro waved and ran off. "Bye!"

Ogata pondered his situation as he watched his fish swim lazily back and forth.

Almost six months had passed since he'd enacted his plan. The one thing he was certain of was that he couldn't kick Shindou out of the study group now, though still sorely tempted on some days. Akira would surely have his head if he even suggested it.

Akira.

Ogata dropped some fish food into the tank. If Shindou's endless babble about Akira (and given the chance, Shindou would find a way to bring Akira into the discussion) and not-always secretive glances at his friend/rival were telling that perhaps Shindou liked Akira more than he let on, or indeed, knew himself, it was just as easy to read Akira.

In many ways, Akira was even more possessive of Shindou. Woe betide the person who dared to criticize Shindou's style of play or his occasional lack of respect for his betters. Ogata once watched Akira chew out a short boy, whose orange hair made Akira's style down right fashionable, for making a snide remark about Shindou's erratic (but Ogata had to admit, truly inspired) game play.

He suspected the other pro lived only because there would have been witnesses in the room that could have identified him.

Just then, the solution hit him not unlike a go stone.

i Get them together /i .

Ogata was not naturally a matchmaker, but if he could get the two boys to admit their feelings and just i fuck /i , then maybe there would be some peace in the study session once and for all.

Not caring that it was almost one in the morning, he called Ashiwara, who was much better at planning these things.

No one hated Ashiwara Hiroyuki. Ogata suspected it was literally impossible to. He was so good natured, so laid back that one had to really work at hating the gregarious pro.

Tonight, however, he found it rather easy to dislike him.

"Patience," his friend had offered over a cup of tea. "They're still young yet. They'll figure it out."

That wasn't the answer he wanted to hear.

"Besides," Ashiwara continued, "If the former Meijin found out that I was behind a plot to get his son deflowered!" He shuddered.

Ogata supposed he couldn't blame him. Touya Kouyo was a very quiet person, and if Akira's outbursts over Shindou were any indication of what his father might do…he supposed that perhaps a little self-preservation was in order.

That still didn't solve his problem.

"Or, you could always lock them in a closet and not let them out until they resolve things," he said with a glint in his eye.

Crude, but it might work.

He knew he really didn't dislike Ashiwara.

Operation: Closet had been a dismal failure. Apparently, the door didn't lock as securely as he thought it did and his intended targets were able to escape in less than ten minutes. The only thing it had accomplished was that both boys were giving him the Evil Eye, because they somehow knew that he was the one behind their getting stuck.

And now, adding insult to injury, the elevator carrying him and Ashiwara, who'd been waiting for Ogata, was currently stuck somewhere between the fifth and sixth floor. They'd tried pushing the "emergency alarm" button, but didn't hear anything. They picked up the phone to be told that someone would be out there "as soon as possible" but warned that they only had on technician on duty today because the other was out sick so it might take more time to get to them.

"Patience," Ashiwara advised as he brought out a little magnetic go-ban—something he picked up after seeing Shindou's. "Want to play?"

Almost an hour had elapsed and they were still stuck in the damn elevator. His fingers itched for a cigarette, but he had nowhere to dispose of the ashes, and about the only thing worse than being stuck in an elevator would be being stuck in an elevator that was on fire.

Their game hadn't progressed very far, he hated the little pieces that could barely fit in his hand and to make matters worse, he had to use the restroom. His fingers tapped in a quick, irritated rhythm on the elevator's floor.

Suddenly, Ashiwara's warm palm covered his hand, stopping the tapping mid-beat as his lips covered Ogata's own.

" i Patience /i " his friend told him. "We're still young yet, we'll figure it out."

It's been a year since Ogata first enacted his quasi-plan to discover who Sai was.

He's no closer to the truth than he was a year ago.

It's been six months since he tried to get Shindou and Akira together. Outwardly, it seems that they still don't have a clue, but he's seen the soft smiles and the hand-holding that suggests otherwise. They still fight on a regular basis and he still wishes that they'd just fuck already. Maybe soon.

It's been six months since Ashiwara first kissed him in the elevator. Six months of fumbling, awkward conversations, quiet dinners, but mind blowing sex. They fight, not as often nor as loud as Shindou and Touya, but in their own way. He relishes have a partner who loves Go as much as he does, and understands the demands on his time that being a professional entails. It's difficult, but he'll make it work.

It's been six days since he last saw Ashiwara, right before he went to a convention in Korea and now he's waiting impatiently for his lover to arrive, so they can talk about their day and eat. Most importantly, he wants to fuck already.

Maybe soon.


End file.
